Impact of Psychosocial Factors on the Adolescents’ Behaviour

doi:10.4236/ce.2011.24057

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Creative Education

2011. Vol.2, No.4, 398-401

Impact of Psychosocial Factors on the Adolescents’ Behaviour

Beatrice Olawumi Ajidahun

Faculty of Education, Department of Guidance and Counselling, Adekunle Ajasin University,

Akungba-Akoko, Nigeria.

Email: [email protected]

Received May 31st, 2011; revised July 3rd, 2011; accepted July 12th, 2011.

The study examined poverty, divorce and peer-pressure as correlates of behavioural problems among adoles-

cents in Adekunle Ajasin University. A total number of 100 students were randomly selected from various De-

partments in the Faculty of Education. The research instrument titled: Adolescent Psychological Questionnaire

(APQ) consisting of 18 items was administered to the adolescents in the Faculty. Four research hypotheses were

formulated. The data were analysed using frequency count and Chi-Square statistics. Results showed that all the

hypotheses tested were significant. This implies that poverty, divorce and peer-pressure were correlates of be-

havioural problems among adolescents in the Faculty of Education, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-

Akoko, Nigeria.

Keywords: Psychology, Adolescents, Behaviors

Introduction

Adolescence period is very essential to the growth of any

person. The peculiarities of this period make it unique from

other aspects of development. It is a transitional period from

childhood to adulthood; it requires an atmosphere full of love

and understanding to function well. In Nigeria today, many

adolescents are getting into problems simply because of how

they were nurtured and what they were exposed to in the course

of growing up. Growing up in Nigeria sometimes depends on

the types of homes and parents one has. The economic status

of the homes whether low or high may likely contribute to the

positive or negative development of the adolescents. The homes

too, whether loving, caring and supportive may contribute

enormously to the proper development of the adolescent child.

The well being of every adolescent starts from the home. The

home being the first agent of socialization needs proper nurtur-

ing for it to fulfill its obligation to the members. Adolescents

benefit enormously when one or both parents are highly in-

volved in their upbringing. The act of nurturing the young ones

to adolescence stage is a great task for every parent to fulfill.

Upbringing of the adolescents starts from attending to their

physical needs based on the various physical developments they

are experiencing. Apart from upbringing, lack of warmth and

nurture from the parents may affect the development of self-

control in adolescents. An environment characterized by love,

understanding and good health is expected to promote the well

being of adolescents.

According to Conger and Chao (1996), adolescents in di-

vorced families are more likely than adolescents from intact

homes to have less intimate relationship with their parents.

Sometimes they also drop out of school because of lack of

concentration; they could become sexually active at an earlier

age because there may not be proper monitoring of their be-

haviour. Apart from this, they sometimes take to drugs and

associate with anti-social peers and this may lead to having

lower self-esteem.

According to Furstenberg et al. (2001), the family needs to

be intact for adolescents to experience the warmth and nurture

of a loving family. Emotional and behavioural problems may

stem from parental conflict before and after divorce, as well as

from the separation itself. In the view of Young et al. (1997), a

smooth functioning family can provide support and nurture to

an adolescent during times of stress and crises. Adolescents

from divorced, single-parent family tend to do worse in school

and get into trouble with the school authorities more than do

adolescents from two parents homes, perhaps because single

parents find it difficult to monitor their children on top of their

other responsibilities .

Adolescence period is sometimes referred to as a period of

stress and storm due to some biological changes they do ex-

perience in their bodies. If the stressors are increased by par-

ents’ marital breakdown then adolescents concerned may be

stressed the more. As noted by Pelton and Forehand (2001), the

family then becomes a source of stress as a result of divorce.

Both parents have roles to play in the lives of adolescents and

these roles cannot be overemphasized. Cooney and Mortimer

(1999) observed that divorce may be a kind of distraction that

disrupts the functions of parents to their children. The absence

of father in homes may lead to aggressive behaviour and poor

adjustment. During the teenage years, the father often assumes

the primary responsibility for disciplining the male adolescents

who sometimes exhibit more antisocial and delinquent behav-

ior.

Acc ord ing to Mcloyd (2000), the financial strength of a home

is worsened by divorce since both parents are no longer to-

gether. The financial stand of the home is left in the care of the

mother whose financial strength may not be able to support the

children. Such mothers are more distressed than their counter-

parts in intact homes. They often show lower support, nurture

and involvement with their children. Divorce generally has

effects on both sexes of adolescents but in different ways. Kelly

(2000) affirmed that there are lots of negative effects of divorce

on males than females.

Wolfinger (1998) found that adolescent males are prone to

drinking problems due to parental divorce. On the other hand,

girls from single parents are more likely to leave home after

school. Both girls and boys from divorced families tend to be

more depressed, according to Simons (1999) than their same

aged peers from intact families.

B. O. AJIDAHUN 399

Akinbola (2004) observed that parents who are together may

suffer poverty. It is a state where an individual is not able to

cater adequately for his or her basic needs of food, clothing and

shelter. He is unable to meet social and economic obligations.

Lack of gainful employment, skills, assets and self-esteem has

limited chances advancing his or her welfare to the limit of his

capacities. Due to this high rate of poverty in the country, most

parents find it difficult to provide adequate food, clothing,

shelter or even good education for their children. Akinbola

(2004) further affirmed that adolescents who are deprived of

basic life necessities by poverty exhibit aggression and poor

social dispositions. They are predisposed to violence due to

lack of basic provisions of good nutrition, shelter and health

care.

This aggression has manifested in the high rate of armed

robbery cases committed by adolescents. In addition to this

cultism, rape, sexual abuses and drug abuses are common

among adolescents from poor homes. Poverty can harm chil-

dren’s development through its impact on parents’ emotional

state and parenting practices and on the home environment they

create. Poor housing for parents make them worry and those

who have lost their job worried about their next meal and this

makes them to feel a lack of control over their lives and even-

tually they may likely become anxious, depressed or irritable.

And they are likely to project these negative emotions on their

children.

Parents may become less affectionate with and less respon-

sive to their adolescent children. The children in turn tend to

become depressed themselves. According to Evans and English

(2002) adolescent’s children have trouble along with peers and

also lack self-confidence. As noted by the researcher, poverty,

family stress, and adolescents’ social and emotional problems

exist among rural, low-income Nigerians. Families under eco-

nomic stress are less likely to monitor their children’s activities

and lack of monitoring is associated with poorer school per-

formance and social adjustment. Poverty has the tendency of

sapping parents’ confidence in their ability to affect their ado-

lescent children’s development. Evans et al. (2002) observed

that lack of financial resources can also make it harder for

mothers and fathers to support each other in parenting. Many

poor parents neglect their adolescent’s children by not being

involved in their activities. They never knew the whereabouts

of their children. And, these attitudes may make the adolescents

to be socially incompetent and also expose them to biological

risk factor such as AIDS.

According to Bolland (2003) a nation is deprived of compe-

tency and productiveness as it ought to have if her adolescents

reach adulthood unhealthy, unskilled, or alienated. Poverty is

an economic hardship and it has effects on adolescents from

poor homes. This hardship may be in terms of poor health,

inadequate house, homelessness, exposure to diseases and un-

supportive neighbourhood. All these hardships experienced by

adolescents from poor homes have implications on their be-

haviours. Such adolescents are invariably involved in robbery,

kidnapping, prostitutions, and cultism and so on. The psycho-

logical ramification of living in poverty makes one to look

down on himself; they are vulnerable to any behavioural psy-

chological problems.

Peer pressure is another variable that affects the behaviour of

the adolescents. Peer pressure can be both negative and positive.

The researcher observed that the negative aspect of peer pres-

sure strives more than the positive aspect. Adolescents belong

to one peer group or the other as a source of identity and social

support. They conform to the ideas, beliefs and judgment of the

peer group and they spend much more time, with their peers

than parents. According to Conger and Chao (1996), adoles-

cents spend more time with peers because of low self-esteem,

and internal pressure which makes adolescents susceptible to

peer pressure. The authors believe that adolescents who see

the msel ves as unintelligent, unpopular and unattractive are more

vulnerable to peer pressure because their hunger for a sense of

acceptance and approval compel them to seek such things

through conformity. Roediger (1996) is of the opinion that the

influence of peer group on behavioural development of adoles-

cents can be examined by how they spend their free-time.

Adolescents spend much time with peers and receive less

adult supervision and control. They try to avoid close supervi-

sion by parents. They become more aware of the values and

behaviour of their peer group. And this lures them to some

behavioural problems which are anti-social in nature such as

robbery, cultism, prostitution and drug abuse. In order to feel

belonged and be part of their groups, adolescents sometimes

conform most of the time because of the benefit they derive in

joining their friends. Some of the benefits may be financial

benefits, hailing and acceptance.

Research Instrument

The data for the study were generated through “Adolescent

Behavioural Questionnaire” prepared by the researcher. The

questionnaire contains 18 items and is divided into section A

and B. Section B consists of 18 items which are intended to

find out the cause of behavioural problems among adolescents.

The response format is agree and disagree.

Data Analysis

Chi-Square was used to test the hypotheses. All the hypothe-

ses were tested at 0.05 level of significance.

Population: The population for this study is all students in

the Faculty of Education, Adekunle Ajasin University , Akungba-

Akoko, Nigeria. One hundred (100) students were randomly

sampled from all t he departments and levels.

Hypothesis One: Poverty is not significantly related to be-

havioural problems of adolescents.

The result is significant because the Chi-square calculated is

greater than the table value of 3.841.

Hypothesis Two: Single parenting is not significantly related

to behavioural problems of adolescents.

The result is significant because chi-square calculated is gr-

eater than the table value. The hypothesis is, therefore, not ac-

cepted.

Hypothesis Three: Broken home is not significantly related

to behavioural problems among adolescents.

The result is significant. Therefore, the hypothesis is not ac-

cepted.

Hypothesis Four: Peer Pressure is not significantly related to

behavioural problems among adolescents.

The result is significant. Therefore, the hypothesis is not ac-

cepted.

Discussion

The result in Table 1 shows that there is significant relation-

ship between poverty and adolescents’ behavioural problems.

Factors like inadequate feeding, lack of shelter, hunger and

B. O. AJIDAHUN

400

poor education encourage adolescents to misbehave. This find-

ing agrees with Akinbola (2004) that adolescents deprived of

basic necessities of life by poverty exhibit aggression and poor

social dispositions. The result in Table 2 indicates that there is

significant relationship between single parenting and adoles-

cents’ behavioural problems. Factors like the absence of a fa-

ther or mother at home, financial handicapping of the father or

mother and transfer of aggression influence children of single

parents to misbehave. This agrees with Furstenberg et al. (2001)

that family needs to be intact for adolescents to experience the

warmth and nurture of a loving family.

Table 3 result shows that there is a significant relationship

between broken home and adolescents’ behavioural problems.

Table 1.

Responses of adolescents on poverty as a factor for behavioural prob-

lems.

No Items Agree Disagree

1. Some adolescents are engaging

in robb ery becau se o f th eir poo r

background. 75 25

2. Nigerian adolescents who lack

basic needs like food are prone

to robbery. 64 36

3. Adolescents from large families

lack basic needs of life like shelter

and clothing 42 58

4. Poverty hinders parents from mon i-

toring their chil dren’s where abouts. 50 50

5. Parents who provide for the basic

needs of their chil dr en c om ma nd

respect. 80 20

6. Many adolescents are hindered

in their pursuit of education be-

c a u s e o f poverty. 83 17

Total 394 206

Responses Average Observed Responses df X2c

Agree 65.66 (50)* 9.81

Disagree 34.33 (50)* 1

X2t = 3.841 P < 0.05 (Signif icant result) ; *Expected ce ll frequenc y.

Table 2.

Responses of adolesc e n ts on s ta y i ng together of parents.

No Items Agree Disagree

1. Single parenting affects the lives of

adolescents ne gatively . 85 15

2. Boys/girls who are trained by single

parents especially mothers are prone to

anti-social behaviours. 75 25

Total 150 40

Responses Ave rage Observed Responses df X2c

Agree 75 (50)* 24.5

Disagree 20 (50)* 1

X2t = 3.841 P < 0.05 (Signif icant result) ; *Expected ce ll frequenc y.

This agrees with Pelton and Forehand (2001) that the family

becomes a source of stress as a result of divorce.

The result in Table 4 shows that there is a significant rela-

tionship between peer pressure and adolescents’ behavioural

problems. This agrees with Conger and Chao (1996) that ado-

lescents append more time with peers because of low self-es-

teem and internal pressure, which makes adolescents suscepti-

ble to peer pressure.

Table 3.

Responses of adole s c e n t s o n b r o k e n homes.

No Items Agree Disagree

1. Adolescents from broken homes

are liable to anti social behaviour. 81 19

2. Low-self concepts of adolescents

from broken and poor homes are

responsible for depression. 74 36

3. Most girls from broken homes are

lured into e arly marriage in life 87 13

4. Adolescents from broken homes

always feel bad about themselves. 76 24

Adolescents from both broken homes

and poor background experience

more stress than those from either

intact or poor homes.

86 14

Total 404 106

Responses Average Observed Responses df X2c

Agree 80.8 (50)* 35.56

Disagree 21.2 (50)* 1

X2t = 3.841 P < 0.05 (Signif icant result) ; *Expected ce ll frequenc y.

Table 4.

Responses of adole s c e n t s o n p e e r p r e ss u r e .

No Items Agree Disagree

1. Many adolescents belong to one

peer group or the other because of

low self esteem. 93 07

2. The thirst for acceptance among peers

prompts some adolescents to join

bad gangs. 92 08

3. To avoid parental supervision, many

adolescents spend more time with

peer groups. 96 04

4. The desire for intimate relationship

compels adolescents to socialize. 90 10

5. The desire for popularity makes ado-

lescents to socialize. 91 09

Total 262 29

ResponsesAverage Observed Responses df X2c

Agree 92.4 (50)* 75.03

Disagree 5.8 (50)* 1

X2t = 3.841 P < 0.05 (Signif icant result) ; *Expected ce ll frequenc y.

B. O. AJIDAHUN 401

Recommendation

The findings of this study show that poverty, divorce, single

parenting and peer pressure are all responsible for various be-

havioural problems of adolescents. It is therefore important to

recommend the following:

 Parents should give birth to children they can adequately

cater for.

 The communication line between parents and adolescent

children should be kept open and effective.

 Parents should encourage their children to believe in them-

selves and have high self-confidence.

 Parents should show interest in the activities that their chil-

dren are interested in.

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